Sometimes I install an extension that creates a new MySQL table, but it breaks because I have binary ("advanced") logging enabled. CiviCRM tries to write to the binary log, and it fails because the table doesn't exist.
Other times, there's a corrupt binary log table, which I can only fix by dropping it.
In these situations, I know that disabling and re-enabling binary logging will fix the situation, but then I lose my existing logs! Is there another less destructive solution?
As of CiviCRM 4.7, you can fix this by installing any extension; see CRM-15078. Schema differences are fixed on extension installation.
If you are on an earlier version of CiviCRM, there's a trick you can do. Edit the PHP for a page that doesn't normally get used - I like the API Explorer page (CRM/Admin/Page/APIExplorer.php).
Right after public function run() {, I put:
$temp = new CRM_Logging_Schema();
$temp->fixSchemaDifferences(TRUE);
echo "Binary log schema differences are now fixed.";
die;
Once I get back the "now fixed" message, I remove the code from the page and everything works.
